


Love and Other Dangerous Things

by AnonymousSpacePrince



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Derek "Nursey" Nurse is Unchill, Getting Together, Kissing, M/M, Pining, Resolved Romantic Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-08
Updated: 2017-04-08
Packaged: 2018-10-16 09:30:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10568508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonymousSpacePrince/pseuds/AnonymousSpacePrince
Summary: Nursey can deal with uptight and confrontational. What he can't deal with is Dex's stupid orange hair and his dumb freckles and that goddamn smug smile he wears when he knows he's winning an argument. Nursey isfinewith Dex's abrasive, annoying qualities, but his soft edges and endearing traits are too much.In which Nursey doesn't hide his crush on Dex, and Dex doesn't do anything about it... until he does.





	

**Author's Note:**

> The latest stop on the Works in Progress Completion Tour. I started this one a while ago and finished it up last night. I really like the plot and execution of this one, so I hope it gets some recognition.

    William Poindexter is infuriating. He's uptight, yeah, and he's obnoxiously confrontational, obviously, but that's not what really gets to Nursey. Nursey can deal with uptight and confrontational. What he can't deal with is Dex's stupid orange hair and his dumb freckles and that goddamn smug smile he wears when he knows he's winning an argument.  
  
    Nursey is _fine_  with Dex's abrasive, annoying qualities, but his soft edges and endearing traits are too much. On the semi-rare occasions that Nursey catches a genuinely happy look on Dex's face, like when he scores during a game, Nursey's heart does this embarrassing thing where it feels like it's trying to do a somersault. It's just too much. It's... infuriating, is what it is.  
  
    Nursey's not so much mad at Dex as he is mad at himself for having a crush on Dex, but fuck that, he totally _is_  mad at Dex for being so _harsh_  but so _cute_ and so fucking... alluring, honestly. Ugh. Nursey's totally losing his grip on his sanity. All because of-  
  
    "Hello, Nurse, anyone home in there?"  
  
    Fucking Dex. He's standing over Nursey, amused grin in place, all smug and confident. "Huh?" _Smooth, Derek_.  
  
    "Off in your own little world, there? Or were you just distracted by allll this?" Dex drawls sarcastically, gesturing down his body.  
  
    Nursey swallows and says, "yes."  
  
    Dex laughs at him and then drops his teasing. "Bitty wants to know if he should make pecan pie or cherry. You're the tie-breaker."  
  
    "Pecan, obviously."  
  
    "Damn right," Dex agrees, offering his fist. Nursey bumps it with his own, and then Dex turns and walks back to the kitchen. Chowder, who is the only other person in the Haus living room, _and_  the only other person who knows about Nursey's crush, is smirking at Nursey from the armchair, half sympathetic and half amused.  
  
    Nursey buries his face in his hands and groans. "Ugh."  
  
    "Nursey, you know I love you, right?" Chowder asks.  
  
    Nursey nods and says, "yeah, of course."  
  
    "Okay good, because as someone who loves you, I'm required to tell you that you couldn't be much more obvious if you jumped him in the kitchen in front of everyone."  
  
    At this point in their friendship, Nursey's heard Chowder be uncharacteristically blunt a few times, but it never ceases to shock him. Nursey feels his cheeks warm up, but he doubts the blush is visible.  
  
    "That being said," Chowder adds. "I think he's still mostly clueless. Maybe- and I'm not pushing you at all, just suggesting!- you should stop silently pining and do something about your feelings."  
  
    "Yeah, you're right. I think I'm gonna tell him," Nursey decides at the exact moment Dex reenters the room.  
  
    "Tell who what?"  
  
    "Whom," Nursey corrects automatically, giving Chowder a look that he hopes says 'stop looking at me like we were just talking about Dex.' It seems to do the trick, because Chowder relaxes his face and goes back to whatever he was working on on his laptop.  
  
    Dex sits down beside Nursey on the couch and says, "since you weren't looking, I rolled my eyes at you." He's fucking smirking again, and Nursey is gripped with a powerful urge to push him back into the couch cushions and thoroughly kiss the stupid smirk off his face.  
  
    Nursey blushes again and tears his eyes away from Dex's lips, focusing instead on his eyes. "What are you doing in here?"  
  
    "It's too hot in the kitchen and Rans and Holster started threatening to trace my freckles with a sharpie like a dot-to-dot."  
  
    Nursey is sure his blush is fairly obvious now, because he's had the thought to do that before, only with his fingertip or tongue, depending on the placement of said freckles. "Ah," he manages.  
  
    "So, tell _whom_  what?" Dex asks again.  
  
    "Oh, uh." Nursey glances at Chowder, who's giving him an encouraging look over his laptop lid. He looks back at Dex, who looks interested in whatever Nursey's obviously hesitant to say. "Tell you... about my huge gay crush on you," Nursey manages to spit out. He's not _too_ worried, because he knows Dex knows he isn't straight and isn't freaked out by it at all, but Nursey's heart is still pounding. He watches closely as Dex's expression goes from surprised to amused, and then to confused, and back to surprised, before settling on something mostly-amused.  
  
    "Ha, you almost had me for a minute there," Dex says, but he's not smirking anymore. Nursey doesn't know what that means.  
  
    "Yeah, not, uh, really joking. I have a crush on you, Dex."  
  
    Dex's brows furrow like he's trying to understand a joke he's not in on, and then he looks surprised and confused again for a second, before his face settles into something mostly blank that Nursey can't read. "Oh, seriously?" He asks quietly. Whatever he sees on Nursey's face clearly answers his question. "Oh. Well, you'll get over it." The smirk is back, then, and Nursey is too fucking confused to question him at all.

  
♢

  
    It's a couple weeks after Dex brushed off Nursey's crush like he'd just told him it was supposed to be cloudy that day. Dex's words still repeat in Nursey's brain on the regular. 'Well, you'll get over it.' That shows how much Dex knows, because Nursey has definitely not gotten over it. In fact, his feelings have only increased in severity.  
  
    Things haven't been tense between he and Dex at all, which is good at least. They're just as friendly and just as argumentative as always. Dex still smirks whenever he wins an argument, and Nursey still wants to kiss the smirk off his face whenever he does.  
  
    They haven't talked about it again, and Nursey starts to think he's just gonna have to _make_  himself get over it. He tries, half-heartedly, but then he catches Dex smiling at him in the middle of a three-way conversation with Chowder and there's just no way he's gonna stop crushing on someone with a smile like that.  
  
  
    One day, Nursey and Dex are walking to the Haus from a class they share. They're walking side-by-side, steps in sync, and Nursey has to make a conscious effort to keep himself from automatically leaning in closer to Dex. He hates to be so cliche about it, but it's like Dex is a big magnet and Nursey is a paperclip.  
  
    The first time their hands accidentally brush, Nursey ignores it and casually puts a couple inches of distance between them. The second time it happens, it makes Nursey realise that they've moved closer together again. He's pretty sure _he_  hasn't moved, but he must've done it subconsciously. He puts space between them again, casual as ever. The third time, Nursey _knows_ he didn't move.  
  
    "Are you fucking with me, Dex?" He asks.  
  
    "Huh?" Dex asks, but Nursey sees in his eyes that he isn't confused at all.  
  
    "You know what you're doing. If your hand brushes mine again, I'm just gonna hold it," Nursey warns.  
  
    A slow smirk spreads across Dex's face and Nursey seriously has to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from doing something that might make Dex hit him. "Still not over it, huh?" Dex asks.  
  
    "Not in the slightest," Nursey admits without hesitation.  
  
    "You will be," Dex responds. He seems for all the world like he's in total control of the situation, but the red tint to his cheeks lends to another idea. Then again, it's kind of chilly out, so maybe the red is just from the cold.  
  
    Nursey's sure Dex heard him mumble "don't be so sure," but Dex just keeps walking in silence.

  
♢

  
    About a month after Nursey originally confessed to his crush on Dex, he's kind of used to Dex being weird about it. Weird in his unique Dex way, not in the way most apparently-straight guys would be weird about their male friends openly admitting to having feelings for them.  
  
    No, Dex's brand of weird includes telling Nursey he'll 'get over' his crush, teasing and messing with Nursey, and, currently, staring at Nursey's lips?  
  
    The two of them are sitting at the kitchen table while Bitty bakes. Nursey's mouthing along to the song Bitty has blasting- yeah, he's indie trash, but who doesn't love Beyoncé?- when he notices that Dex's eyes are trained right on his lips. It's kind of understandable since he's mouthing the words to the song, but he stops and closes his mouth and Dex doesn't stop staring. _Interesting_.  
  
    At this point, Nursey is beyond confused by Dex, but fuck if he isn't still hopelessly pining. Catching his crush staring at his lips is pretty intriguing, so Nursey decides to see how far he can push it. He glances over and watches Bitty baking a second, makes it seem casual when he runs his tongue over the edge of his top lip. Nursey smirks when he sees Dex subconsciously mimic the gesture and swallow heavily.  
  
    Nursey leans forward over the table and says, "stop looking at me like that."  
  
    Dex blushes as his eyes quickly meet Nursey's. "Like what?" He asks like he hadn't just been staring at Nursey's lips for a solid two minutes.  
  
    "Like you wanna kiss me," Nursey responds coolly, still smirking. He appreciates having the upper hand against Dex for the first time this month, especially when Dex's cheeks go impossibly more red.  
  
    Dex looks down at the table, like he can't meet Nursey's eyes anymore. "I _wasn't_ ," Dex says. He sounds like he's gonna say more after that, but then he doesn't.  
  
    "Hey, all I'm saying is, if you wanna kiss me, you should just do it," Nursey says, just to watch Dex go a little more red. (He isn't disappointed.)  
  
  
    By the time the day starts to turn to evening, Nursey has had enough time to convince himself that Dex was just zoned out when he was looking at Nursey's lips. Not like it was intentional. If it was, why wouldn't he have just done something, since he knew Nursey liked him? He was probably only blushing because he was uncomfortable.  
  
    "Hey, you wanna come over to my place and work on that stupid paper?" Dex asks, leaning on the arm of the couch that Nursey's sitting on.  
  
    "Uh, sure?" 'That stupid paper' is worth half their semester grade for the class they share, and Nursey knows Dex knows that, but it's a literature class, so Dex probably just wants Nursey to help him with it.  
  
    "Cool, let's go," Dex says.  
  
    "Alright," Nursey agrees, because what else is he supposed to do? He stands up and follows Dex, who is already heading towards the front door.  
  
  
    As soon as they're inside Dex's dorm room and Nursey sees that his roommate isn't around, his mind decides to offer some bad ideas. Bad ideas like pushing Dex up against the door and sucking on his tongue until Dex either pushes him away or takes him to bed. Only that sounds like a _really good idea_  and he definitely needs to stop thinking about it _right now_.  
  
    "Why are you looking at me like that?" Dex asks, and Nursey feels his face set on fire. "Wow, I've never seen you blush before." Nursey wants to disappear. "What were you thinking about?" No, he wants to die.  
  
    "If I answer that question honestly, it'll make things extremely awkward," Nursey says.  
  
    "Ah, guess I'll just have to imagine then," Dex responds, and _fucking winks_. Holy fuck, Nursey really wants to pin him to a solid surface. He jams his hands in his pockets to guarantee they won't just grab Dex of their own volition.  
  
    Dex settles himself down on his bed, leaning against the wall, and pats the space beside him. "Come on, Nurse, we've got work to do."  
  
    Nursey feels a little numb as he walks over and sits down beside Dex. The last thing on his mind right now is literature, but they've got an assignment to work on. "Okay, the assignment is an essay about a philosopher from the Age of Enlightenment," Nursey says. "I'm writing about Voltaire. What about you?"  
  
    "I don't know," Dex says. "I was thinking about doing Cesare Beccaria."  
  
    "Solid choice," Nursey says. "I didn't overhear anyone else mention Beccaria."  
  
    "Yeah? Alright, cool. I'm totally gonna need your help with this, though."  
  
    " _Yeah_ , I figured."  
  
    "What's that supposed to mean?" Dex asks, mock-offended.  
  
    Nursey rolls his eyes. "It just means I'm the literature and philosophy specialist here. I'm sure if our assignment was to fix a bug in a computer or, like, actually fix something with our hands, _I'd_ need _your_  help."  
  
    Dex considers this, and seems to accept  his answer. "Fair."  
  
  
    They actually get a decent amount of work done before Dex closes his notebook with a huff and wilts back against the wall. "I don't get how you actually enjoy this philosophy shit, but kudos for understanding it all."  
  
    "Well, I don't know what you see in computers, other than, like, what everyone else sees in them. Different stuff makes sense to different people, you know?"  
  
    "Yeah."  
  
    The way Dex's head is tipped back against the wall leaves his throat exposed, all the freckles prominently displayed like stars. Not for the first time, Nursey thinks about tracing them with his tongue. As if he hadn't noticed before, Nursey realises how close he actually is to Dex. He wouldn't even have to move more than leaning forward a little to press his lips to Dex's skin. His chest suddenly starts aching with the desire to do so.  
  
    "I can literally feel you looking at me," Dex says, without opening his eyes. Nursey blushes, but doesn't look away.  
  
    "Sorry."  
  
    Dex opens his eyes and lifts his head up off the wall, which leaves his face surprisingly close to Nursey's. "Don't be sorry. What were you looking at?"  
  
    Suddenly the moment feels strangely delicate, like everything is made of spiderwebs and could be broken by nothing more than too harsh a breath. "Your freckles," Nursey responds simply, softly. Carefully. He tries not to breathe too hard.  
  
    "They're obnoxious, huh?"  
  
    "No," Nursey disagrees. "I like them."  
  
    "Really?"  
  
    "Yeah. They're like stars. I wanna trace them. Like constellations, not like a dot-to-dot," Nursey says with a careful smirk.  
  
    Dex groans, but laughs lightly. "Remind me not to let you near me with a Sharpie."  
  
    "I don't wanna trace them with a Sharpie."  
  
    "Then what do you wanna trace them with?"  
  
    "Just my finger, or..." Nursey stops and blushes. "Or my tongue."  
  
    Dex makes a small sound like he tried to exhale in the middle of an inhale. "Jesus fucking Christ." Dex's voice, at normal volume, is like a machete to the spiderweb fabric of the moment.  
  
    "What?"  
  
    "You _cannot_  just say shit like that," Dex says. Nursey's sure Dex's pupils are dilated, but it's probably just because the room is kind of dim.  
  
    "You're the one who-" ' _asked_ ' gets cut off by Dex's lips pressing hard against Nursey's. Nursey swallows a gasp and lifts his hands to frame Dex's face. The kiss is a degree of frantic, fast and warm and steady, and it has Nursey feeling fire in his veins. He wants Dex _closer_ , in his lap or underneath him, but he doesn't know how to ask, how to make it happen. He's never kissed anyone that means as much to him as Dex does, and he doesn't know how to make sure he doesn't fuck it up.  
  
     Dex pulls away and Nursey is terrified that he missed the only chance he'll ever get to memorize the way it feels to kiss Dex, but then he isn't worried about anything at all because Dex is sitting up and moving to straddle Nursey's lap, and then they're kissing again and it's _really_  good. Dex's hands are on the sides of Nursey's neck, and Nursey's hands are on Dex's hips. Every time Nursey presses his thumbs in against Dex's hip bones, Dex sinks a little bit more against Nursey's body.  
  
    Dex bites Nursey's lip before he pulls away, and Nursey makes a soft, involuntary noise that isn't _quite_  a moan or a sigh. They're both smiling as Dex leans his forehead against Nursey's.  
  
    "Jeez, Poindexter, you couldn't've just done that a month ago?" Nursey asks.  
  
    Dex shakes his head mildly. "I shouldn't've- well, I probably shouldn't have done it now, but... shit, Nursey, you're hard to resist. It's hard enough when you're not talking about tracing my freckles with your tongue."  
  
    "I don't get it," Nursey says. "If you want this too... I mean-" Nursey takes a breath. "You know I liked you a while before this, so... Do you like me? Is that- or did you just wanna kiss me, or? I really need to know what I've gotten myself into here." Nursey's sure he's not making much sense, but kissing Dex really scattered his brain.  
  
    Dex sighs and moves off of Nursey's lap, back into his spot on the bed. Nursey tries not to mourn the contact. "I do like you," Dex says. "Kind of a lot. Don't get me wrong, okay? I know I might've been hurting you this month but... it's been hurting me at least as much."  
  
    "But why?" Nursey asks. It doesn't make any sense. "If you've liked me this whole time and you _knew_ it was mutual, why wouldn't you have just told me?"  
  
    Dex sucks in a slow inhale and then blows it out kind of dramatically. "Because, shit, I tend to spill my whole heart when I let someone in, and you're too damn easy to let in," Dex says.  
  
    Nursey raises his eyebrows.  
  
    "I've never really been a person anyone gets stuck on, okay?" Dex says, tentative. "I don't want that to sound all melodramatic, but it's true. I've been liked plenty, but it's always just been... temporary. Girls in middle school, girls and guys in high school, told me they liked me, or kissed me, or fucked me, and sometimes it was good, but it always ended fast? I guess.  
  
    "Like, nobody has ever kept liking me long enough to start loving me. Usually I don't really care, because I'm fine alone, but you? You're so damn easy to let in," Dex comes full circle, and takes another moment to breathe. "You could break my heart so easily," Dex finally says.  
  
    "Oh wow," Nursey says. "Hey." He reaches for Dex's hand, gently coaxes them together until Dex intertwines their fingers. Nursey smiles a little. "I don't know what the other people you've been with were thinking, but listen, okay?"  
  
    "Yeah."  
  
    " _I've_  always been the idiot who falls in love too fast and too deeply, like the idiot who jumps into a pool and doesn't realize it's only three feet deep until his ankle is broken, if that makes sense," Nursey says. Dex nods. "And it's- with you? I'm not falling in love with your every word. I'm not looking at you through rose-coloured glasses.  
  
    "I know you. I know you're a fucking idiot." Nursey chuckles, and Dex snorts. "And I like you a lot. I have for a while. I can't promise that I'll always have feelings for you. I can't even promise that I'll never break your heart, though I can say I'll try my best not to." Nursey pauses for a minute, tries to organize his thoughts so Dex really understands. "And I can't tell you I love you right now, because you mean too much to me to love you before I get a chance to like you properly."  
  
    A smile tugs at Dex's lips, and Nursey wants it to stay forever.  
  
    "But shit, Will," Nursey says carefully. He doesn't want to fuck this up. "I haven't stopped liking you over the past month while you've been acting hella weird and keeping me at a distance, so I certainly don't think it'll happen for no reason. Give me a chance to fall in love with you and do it right," Nursey says. "Please?"  
  
    Dex grabs a handful of Nursey's shirt and pulls him in for a long, sweet kiss. They're both smiling again when they separate. "Yeah," Dex says.  
  
    "Yeah?"  
  
    "Yes, okay." He kisses Nursey again, chastely. "It still scares me some, but you're worth the risk."

**Author's Note:**

>     "But, gotta ask, was the monologue really necessary?"
> 
>     Nursey laughs and shoves Dex a little. "Shut up, you already fucking know how extra I am."
> 
> -
> 
> As I've said before, I'm 100% clueless about how college works and what the classes are like, and I also know nothing about history, so please save my ass and tell me if the assignment I stuck them with makes no sense. The only thing I have an actual clue about is Voltaire, because he's my favourite philosopher.
> 
> Also let me know if you liked this! I really enjoyed writing it. I really like the idea of openly crushing on people instead of silently pining, and I love writing Dex being vulnerable and open, so this was a lot of fun.


End file.
